In another blog was a comment about how finding out a Presidential Candidate consulted an Astrologer would not necessarily be a good thing.

I ask you, why would it not be a good thing?

I'm not asking that you believe in such things, but to look at the evidence of who's who and uses the advice of Astrologers and Tarot readers to make their own decisions.

Alexander the Great used an Astrologer to help him plan his hostile takeovers.

Titus Vestricius Spurinna who warned Caesar to beware the ides of March, was an Astrologer and used Extispicy (reading animal entrails) to make predictions. Looks like he might have been correct hmmm?

Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth I both used the same Astrologer, John Dee.

George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, both FreeMasons used Astrology themselves and were capable of creating detailed charts.

Even more recent Presidents and world leaders have used divinations through Tarot and Astrology to think through their own decisions.

No, I'm not saying that everyone should believe in all of it, or indeed, any of it. That's a personal choice. But to call someone a fool for having used those resources? I'm afraid that's wrong.. dead wrong.

In my personal opinion, a good tarot card 'reader' can be more effective than years of therapy in some situations. Why? Because it asks you to look inside and really see what's eating at you and why.

Seems like a lot of people round here lately got lots of opinions about what is right or wrong as far as politics go. What's that saying Luna using...ad nauseum...yeah that's it. Pretty much how I felt lately.

I really don't have an opinion one way or the other as far as the astrology thing goes...to each his own ya know?

Everyone believes in what they want to but knocking someone for what they believe in is just ignorance of the unknown. Kinda like people whining about the political blogs............well whining about the nature of all the blogs............really..Just ignorance............JMO.

By the way......astrology is a science.....people can believe in God with no proof, I am one of those such people.......but astrology is something that can actually be explained..............again JMO

On one hand I'll be the FIRST to agree that celestial bodies within a reasonable vicinity may have an influence on us (think gravity), and that other celestial bodies within a reasonable distance may influence THOSE, thereby affecting us -- feasibly.

By that same token our bodies are like amazingly fine-tuned watches and transistors consisting of bio-chemical and piezo-electrical impulses.

Then you get to the nitty-gritty, the proverbial "other hand".

Our bodies, while finely-tuned, are biological, have evolved to adapt and survive; this means that no matter how finely-tuned they may be, they are also prone to survive a reasonable "margin of error" with minimal-to-no effect. This means that while the Moon's elliptical orbit brings it closer to the Earth here and there (affecting tides and, reasonably, iron and water in our bodies/brains), Mars has less effect; Saturn even less, Pluto (I don't care, I'm keeping it a planet in my mind, just like the apatosaurus stayed a brontosaurus for me) negligible if it even exists at all.

Someone is going to throw Chaos and the Butterfly Effect in there; and sure, there is something to it -- but you're not going to have ill financial fortunes this month because Arcturus and Sirius happened to coincide in the sky with Mars and Venus in the morning for a couple of weeks.

Will we hear about the full Moon (capitalized solely because it's OUR Moon, THE Moon) and the scientifically quantified effects on behaviour?

Before we go down that road, let's consider: There are psychological histories of weird behaviour during the full Moon, but the question remains of whether these have been built into our collective psychology over time or not. After all, when we see the Moon in the sky the whole thing is there, regardless of which portion is lit, always. So is it the full Moon (woooo, spooky) or the collective positions of the Moon and Sun? And if the latter, then why do we never hear about THAT, only the full Moon?

There are strange things in the Universe/Multiverse about which we do not know; I'm at the front of the line for that one. And given the time and effort which have gone into various cultural astrologies for thousands of years, I'll also agree that there is probably something -- SOMETHING -- to it, even if it's not recognized as a science in any quantifiable measure.

But I'm sticking to my guns on the President thing. Sure, some great man once consulted the Oracles, who were privy to celestial knowledge even they did not fathom; but I'm pretty darned sure that great man also looked around and took in the evidence of his eyes, ears and mind, making rational decisions as best he could regardless of what any Oracle told him.

I don't believe that ANYONE should take everything said by any 'soothsayer' as the gospel truth. Nothing is carved in stone, we have free will to do or change anything that we want. (whether we have the intestinal fortitude is another question)

I am just saying, that perhaps these tools might be used to kickstart our thought processes and forcing us to take a deeper look at what our conscience is telling us.

Yes, I do believe that we have influence from celestial bodies. Yes, I also believe in hive mentality or racial memory, whichever you want to call it.

If you got advice from a card reader that said, take a deeper look at your relationship with your mother .. for instance... and you do and find that you are really unhappy about something that she had said in the past.. but you didn't realize it.. is it good advice or just happenstance?

Does it really matter which it is?

So, no.. don't take anything that a psychic, card reader or astrologer says to you as the gospel truth. You have the ability and the liability to change your life in any way that you wish.. or even in ways that you don't wish if you aren't careful.

If you got advice from a card reader that said, take a deeper look at your relationship with your mother .. for instance... and you do and find that you are really unhappy about something that she had said in the past.. but you didn't realize it.. is it good advice or just happenstance?

If I got the same advice from a psychiatrist, a reverend OR at the corner pub, is it good advice or just happenstance?

You don't get off easily with word-play; sell that one to somebody who's going to buy.

So far you still haven't validated card-reading a bit more than you feel I've INvalidated it; hence the response here rather than in the thread, eh?

I think you might be reading a bit more emotion into this than I'm actually putting into it. I don't feel that you've invalidated anything particularly. I'm just simply saying, that wherever you get your advice, if it makes you think twice or even once (in some cases) what difference does it make where you get your advice from?

As for my validating anything? I validate thinking. I validate introspection. I validate any means that create a scenario where people will actually look within.

BTW when I read your response I was on the way out the door to do some shopping for my birthday party tomorrow. Luau baby... byob.. potluck.. music.. good people.. maybe a tarot card reading